Abstract
Background:
Pathway analysis demonstrated associations between deep intracerebral hemorrhage (DICH) and the genetic risk score of complex IV of the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) pathway in whites. This study investigated the related genetic variations in the DICH population in Taiwan. Candidate variants were selected from the prior report by the following criteria: (1) nuclear genes encoding mitochondria complex IV, (2) genetic effect >1.08, (3) global minor allele frequency >0.01. Six single-nucleotide polymorphisms fitted in the selection criteria, which were mainly involved in Cox assembly, including Cox10, Cox15, and Cox18, and one structural gene, Cox7C. Associations were tested with adjustment of multiple covariables. Permutation testing of 1000 replicates was performed for empirical estimates.
Results:
This study enrolled 336 patients and 379 controls. Compared with whites, the Taiwan population has higher minor allele frequency (MAF) of rs4308511, rs767844, and rs221592 and lower MAF of rs8079640. There was no variation of rs16949067 in the Taiwan population. When adjusting for the traditional risk factors, rs221592 G allele was associated with DICH risk in women under additive (odds ratio (OR) = 1.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02-2.3,
Conclusions:
The results showed ethnic disparities in the complex IV–related genes. COX18-rs221592 G allele was associated with female DICH risks. COX7C-rs4308511 T allele was an independent risk of poor outcome in men.
Introduction
Primary intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most devastating stroke subtype with high morbidity and mortality.1-3 Intracerebral hemorrhage accounted for 8% to 10% of all patients with stroke in Western countries3,4 but 22% to 35% in Asian populations.2,5,6 Less than one-third of the ICH patients had a good functional recovery, and the 1-year mortality remained higher than 50%.1-3,7-9 Most of the ICH (65% to 80%) is caused by hypertension,10,11 which predominantly occurs at the nonlobar region, including the basal ganglia, thalamus, brain stem, and cerebellum (all are classified as deep ICH [DICH]),3,9 whereas cerebral amyloid angiopathy–related ICH commonly affects cerebral lobes (lobar ICH).12,13 The inherited genetic variations of ICH remain largely unexplained by known gene variants.
A recent research pooled several white discovery cohorts (MGH/MIGen) with independent validation cohorts (ISGS/SWISS) and showed associations of oxidative phosphorylation pathway genes (OXPHOS genes) with stroke risks in whites. 14 The genes evaluated in their study included all structural OXPHOS genes and genes contributing to individual respiratory complexes. Using a genetic score based on association significance for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and linkage disequilibrium, they first analyzed the association between risk scores and ischemic stroke, especially small vessel stroke. They also discovered associations between DICH and common genetic variants within complex IV (cytochrome c oxidase, Cox). Although this pathway analysis showed an aggregate association of gene scores with DICH, the study design was not able to identify the specific genetic variants. 14
Oxidative stress is one of the biochemical consequences that hinder DICH recovery. 15 Several biochemical cascade pathways initiate production of free radicals, which ultimately lead toward neuronal cell death and influence clinical outcome.16,17 Oxidative stress induces apoptosis through several pathways, such as the mitochondrial pathway and the inflammatory response, triggered by reactive oxygen species (ROS) through the activation of transcription factor nuclear factor κB. 18 Therefore, oxidative phosphorylation–related genes are likely to influence long-term exposures to inflammation and outcomes from DICH. The OXPHOS pathway is the metabolic pathway occurring within mitochondria for internal energy production. Four main protein complexes are involved in the oxidative pathway: NADH-coenzyme Q oxidoreductase (complex I), succinate-Q oxidoreductase (complex II), electron transfer flavoprotein-Q oxidoreductase, Q-cytochrome c oxidoreductase (complex III), and Cox (complex IV). Cox is the terminal complex in the electron transport chain of oxidation in mitochondria, which controls the proton gradient and establishes a transmembrane difference of proton electrochemical potential for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase. Cox has a complicated structure and contains 13 subunits in mitochondria, 2 heme centers, 2 copper centers, and Fe cofactors. In mammals, the subunits I to III are encoded by mitochondria DNA, whereas subunits IV to VIII are nuclear encoded.
Given the evidence of the association of Cox genetic score with DICH in whites, this study aimed to identify the specific genetic variations of complex IV that were involved in the previously discovered genetic score in terms of the association with the Taiwan DICH.
Methods
Subjects ascertainment
Subjects were recruited from the Department of Neurology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (CGMH), Linkou Medical Center. Patients with DICH were diagnosed based on both clinical presentations and computed tomography (CT). Patients with secondary ICH (trauma, brain tumor, vascular anomaly, anticoagulants use, abnormal platelet count, prolonged prothrombin time, and prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time) were excluded. Age-matched participants of the control group were recruited from subjects with no history of neurodegenerative diseases, inflammatory diseases, and stroke. The ethnicity of all of the participants was self-reported as being of Taiwanese Han Chinese ancestry. All the medical records and the outcome were reviewed and assessed by 2 neurologists (Y-C.C. and C-M.C.). All the participants or her or his legally acceptable representative was willing to provide written informed consent to participate. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of CGMH.
Anthropometric data and fasting blood samples were collected from all participants. Hypertension was diagnosed when a subject was taking antihypertensive medication to control hypertension or when blood pressure (BP) repeatedly exceeded 140 mm Hg (systolic) and/or 90 mm Hg (diastolic). For DICH cases without prior hypertension, hypertension was recorded when BP measured after the acute phase of DICH (2 weeks within the onset) repeatedly >140 mm Hg (systolic) and/or 90 mm Hg (diastolic). Diabetes mellitus (DM) was defined based on World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Alcohol use was defined as drinking ⩾210 g per week, as classified as high-risk drinking by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Smoking was defined as former (adults who have smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime, but say they currently do not smoke) or current smoking (adults who have smoked 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and currently smoke cigarettes daily or nondaily). 19 Hematoma volume at supratentorium, including basal ganglia and thalami, was calculated using the so-called ABC method based on CT of brain. 20 Short-term outcome was assessed using the modified Rankin scale (mRS) on day 30 after DICH events. Subjects who were dead or dependent (mRS > 3) at the 30-day follow-up were considered poor prognosis. 21
Candidate SNPs selection
From the results of the prior pathway analysis, 14 we have selected candidate genes/SNPs of complex IV by the following criteria: (1) nuclear genes encoding mitochondria complex IV; (2) β-coefficients >0.08 or < −0.08, given the genetic effect of ICH was 1.08 in the prior cohort 14 ; and (3) global minor allele frequency (GMAF)>0.01. The β-coefficients indicate the risk of disease when the number of copies of risk allele is increased by one and β-coefficients = 0.08 is relative to odds ratio (OR) = 1.08. There were 6 SNPs selected, mainly involving Cox assembly, including Cox10, Cox15, and Cox18, and one structural gene, Cox7C. The specific information of the 6 selected genetic polymorphisms is listed in Table 1.
Information of the selected genetic polymorphisms.
From the results of GWAS and pathway analysis, we have selected candidate genes/single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of complex IV pathway. Global minor allele frequency (GMAF) in each SNP is shown. The MAF in the 1000 Genome phase 1 population in the sample population of 629 people (or 1258 chromosomes) is demonstrated.
Genotyping
Blood samples from patients were collected for SNP genotyping and the genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral leukocytes using DNA Extraction Kit (Stratagene). Genotyping was determined according to a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight–based minisequencing genotyping method and the primer sets used for polymerase chain reaction amplification and minisequencing reaction for each SNP region are as listed in Table 2.
Primers used for amplification and minisequencing reaction with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight–based minisequencing genotyping method.
Abbreviations: F, forward primer; MSP, minisequencing primer; R, reverse primer; SNP, single-nucleotide polymorphism.
Statistics
The Pearson χ2 test or
Results
The demographic data for the enrolled population are presented in Table 3. A total of 336 DICH patients and 379 controls were included in this study. The proportions of hypertension, smoking, and alcohol consumption were significantly higher in patients than in controls. Total cholesterol was borderline higher in DICH patients than in controls (
Demographics of the study population.
Abbreviation: DICH, deep intracerebral hemorrhage; IVH, intraventricular hemorrhage.
Data are expressed as percentage or mean ± SD. Hemorrhage size was the calculated in patients with supratentorial hemorrhage.
Comparisons between controls and DICH group were analyzed using Pearson χ2 test or
To convert mg/dL to mmol/L, multiply cholesterol values by 0.02586.
Frequency and association of each genotype in DICH and control subjects are shown in Table 4. There was no difference between cases and controls regarding the genotype distribution of the candidate SNPs in the overall cohort. When stratified by sex, rs221592 was associated with DICH risk in women under additive (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.02-2.3,
Frequencies and associations of the genotypes in patients with deep intracerebral hemorrhage (DICH) and controls.
Odds ratio = 1.5, 95% confidence interval 1.02 to 2.3.
For the 30-day outcome, we found that poor 30-day outcome (mRS > 3) was associated with rs4308511 (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.1-2.3,
Prediction of poor outcome (30-day mRS > 3) of the patients with deep intracerebral hemorrhage.
aOdds ratio (OR) = 1.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.2 to 2.7; †b OR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.3 to 3.2.
OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.1 to 3.8.
aOR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.1 to 2.3; §b OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.3 to 2.9.
OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.05 to 2.8.
Discussion
This is the first study that investigated associations of complex IV–related genes with DICH risks and outcome in the Taiwan population. Carrying rs221592 G allele (
In the pooled white cohorts, Anderson et al
14
showed associations of complex IV genes with DICH risks in whites. Although they discovered associations between DICH and common genetic variants within complex IV, their study design highlights an aggregate association and therefore cannot identify specific genetic variants.
22
The study herein supports the prior finding of associations between complex IV–related genes and DICH risks and highlights the variants of rs221592 (
The involvement of the complex IV genes in DICH may be contributing to mitochondria dysfunctions including ATP depletion and generation of ROS, which would affect cell survival. Oxidative stress has been shown to result in increased expression of adhesion molecules and blood-brain barrier permeability. When a small artery ruptures and the hematoma bleeds into the surrounding brain, various cellular and molecular components determining neuronal survival were activated, 23 and the inflammation response was triggered by ROS through the activation of transcription factor nuclear factor κB. 24 We have shown that increased leukocyte 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) as well as decreased erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase and plasma vitamin E during acute DICH, in which 8-OHdG was associated with ICH and the 30-day outcome independently from the other oxidative markers and the traditional factors. 15 Mitochondria dysfunction may lead to poor compensation during the oxidative stress after DICH and thus lead to a poor outcome.
This study has several strengths. First, this study included a homogeneous disease entity in a same ethnic background between the case and the control groups, which may limit the confounding effect from multiple phenotypes and ethnicities. Second, this is the first study analyzing associations of individual complex IV genes with the DICH susceptibility. This allows us to identify which SNPs may be used as tag variants. However, this study has several limitations. First, the number of the DICH patients is relatively small. Furthermore, a replicated study is needed to confirm the results herein, especially for the female population to avoid a false-negative result. In addition, the SNPs may not pose a specific risk factor for DICH, given that these genes have been shown to be a risk for other diseases. 25 Second, we did not record data of medication use, such as antiplatelet agent and statin, which may influence the clinical outcome. Third, there is also a limitation that the ethnicity was self-reported, in which the reliability was uncertain. Furthermore, because the effect sizes were modest, the result needs to be replicated before these SNPs can be viewed as independent risk factors for DICH and its outcome.
The results showed ethnic disparities in the complex IV–related genes. There was significant association of rs221592 G allele (
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the participants in this study for their valuable contributions.
Funding:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by CGMH (CMRPG3C174, CMRPG3E1502, CMRPG 3G0961).
Declaration of conflicting interests:
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Author Contributions
YCC and CMC recruited participants. YCC and YSL designed the study, selected candidate variations, and analyzed and interpreted the data. YCC, CMC, and KHC make contributions to conception and design of this study. YCC made contributions to genotyping and acquisition of data.
